New krewe, levees top council agendas

Sunday

HOUMA – A new Mardi Gras krewe is just one of several topics being discussed this week at the Terrebonne Parish Council’s meetings.

If approved by the council Monday, the Krewe of Tut would parade after the Krewe of Terreanians, which rolls the Sunday afternoon prior to Fat Tuesday.

Other issues on the council’s agendas this week include a proposed levee that would protect Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, selling the old Houma City Court building and applying for money to build a recreational trail in Houma.

The Krewe of Tut already has roughly 200 members, said Krewe President Cordell Moore.

“It just sort of exploded after we announced (in March) and word got out in the community,” Moore said.

Originally from Houma, Moore said he returned to the community a year and a half ago after a 20 year departure.

Upon his return, Moore said he realized his hometown’s Carnival festivities didn’t have a club with a primarily minority membership.

He also noticed a lot of interest in Thibodaux’s krewes of Shaka and Ghana.

“I just didn’t understand why one could exist in Thibodaux and not in Houma,” Moore said.

But he doesn’t want people to think the new club is an exclusive one. It’s open to all people, he said.

“We never set out to make it a ‘black organization,’ “ Moore said. “That’s the old way.”

Moore said the krewe’s name comes from his nickname “King Tut: the boy king,” which he received from his college fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, at the University of New Orleans and Loyola University. Owner of CWI Trucking in LaPlace and Houma, Moore is also part owner of Supplies, Sales and Services offshore-supply company in Houma.

Under parish Carnival rules, any new Mardi Gras krewe has to receive council approval as well as permission from the krewe whose parade they intend to follow, said Rene Rhodes, Krewe of Terreanians captain.

“We very eagerly granted them permission,” Rhodes said. “We welcome them and hope they have a great time.”

The new Mardi Gras krewe is scheduled for discussion at the 5:45 p.m. Policy, Procedure and Legal Committee meeting Monday. All council meetings are open to the public and held on the second floor of the Government Tower, 8026 Main St., in Houma.

• Monday’s set of council committee meetings start with the proposed sale of the old City Court building at Roussell and Main streets in downtown Houma. The building has been empty for a year. It was left vacant when City Court moved to a bigger office near the downtown twin spans. The building’s fate is scheduled for discussion at 5:30 p.m. during the Budget and Finance Committee meeting.

Local businessman Sam Castalano has offered $421,500 for the two-story building with plans of turning it into a place where people can park and live. Castalano owns two Houma delicatessens bearing his name, including one next door to the Main Street building. The other is on West Park Avenue. He also owns Castalano Properties, the entity that made the offer to buy the former courthouse.

• Hiring an engineer to begin planning a levee around Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center and along Industrial Boulevard is the planned topic of discussion at the council’s 6 p.m. Public Services Committee meeting Monday.

Hurricane Rita pushed water into the state hospital’s parking lot and to its front door, forcing the evacuation of patients and staff. Levee officials initiated the project, and now parish government is proposing that the levee tie into the Industrial Boulevard pump station.

Parish President Michel Claudet is proposing that the council hire Gulf South Engineers Inc. to plan the project. A price for engineering services won’t be calculated until the contract is complete.

At that same meeting, the council will consider reviving the parish’s Utility Advisory Committee to address rising fuel rates city of Houma customers are experiencing this summer.

• A proposal for a recreational trail in Houma near the northern ends of La. 56 and La. 57 will be discussed at Monday’s final meeting, scheduled for 6:15 p.m. during the Community Development and Planning Committee.

The trail would be created on land owned by the Orleans Audubon Society, which is applying to a state agency, called the Recreational Trails Program, for help in building the path. Council documents do not specify whether the trail will be used for motorized or non-motorized vehicles.

To view this week’s council agendas, visit www.tpcg.org/council and click on the left-hand link titled “Agendas.”

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